The Yokai Times NewsHour
The Yokai Times NewsHour is a web series that parodies PBS NewsHour and is set at Yokai Academy. The show premiered in 2012 and is anchored by Liam Aiken, with Emma Watson, Hoshi Ishida, Breck Bruns, and Georgie Henley serving as anchors. Kay Panabaker and Alex Watson (the latter with his voice dubbed by his more famous older sister) joined the team in 2013. As with the movies, Liam's voice is dubbed by Jason Statham. On the DVD and Blu-ray releases of each season, there's an "undubbbed" option that allows the viewer to hear Kokoa's and Gin's voices before dubbing. There are a few movie review segments that are shown in 3D, mainly because the movies being reviewed in said 3D segments are in 3D. Episodes Season 1 #'Medusa in Our Midst': In this episode, Moka and Tsukune cover the exposure of Hitomi Ishigami's crime of petrifying her students and subsequent firing. Yukari covers Saizo Komiya's antics concerning sports, Gin does Q&A with one of Ishigami's victims, and Kurumu delivers a scathing review of Dreamaniac, stating that while the succubus's kiss enslaves men, the succubus in the film, Lily, was treated more like Freddy Krueger, going so far as to state, "She's an insult to my race!" simply because Lily kills her victims in the film. #'Public Safety Commission Exposed': In this episode, Moka and Gin cover the exposure of the PSC and its leader, Kuyo, as a major safety hazard to the school. Tsukune handles a Q&A with Shizuka Nekonome, who worries about the safety of the Newspaper Club and is glad the club's safe. Yukari handles coverage of a baseball tournament on campus, and Kurumu reviews Frankenstein. She's more forgiving of this film since at least it doesn't demonize her species, and she even compliments James Whale's direction and Boris Karloff's acting as the misunderstood monster and chastises the humans for tormenting him. #'Sunflower Hill': In this episode, Yukari covers the club's experiences at the Witch's Knoll. Tsukune does a Q&A with a human on the site concerning human activity on the Witch's Knoll endangering the witches that live there. Kurumu and Gin cover the Yokai Olympics, and Gin hits on Kurumu throughout, much to her chagrin. Moka reviews The Headless Eyes and states that the film is extremely scary, even for a vampire like herself ("It's rated X for a reason, kids!"), especially considering that the plot revolves around eye-gouging. However, in the end, she concludes that despite its Z-grade status and low budget, it's worth the scare. #'Kraken vs. Snow Fairy': In this episode, Tsukune covers the saga with Mizore nearly getting kicked out of Yokai Academy on account of one teacher's lie. Gin does a Q&A with Mizore concerning the events leading up to the teacher nearly dragging her down into the waters outside the school, and Moka does a Q&A with Ririko concerning her knowledge of her colleague's crimes against Mizore and a few other students. Kurumu covers the start of football season at Yokai, and Yukari reviews Equinox, bashing it for its portrayal of black magic, a topic that offends her due to her experiences at Witch's Knoll. Her opinion on Satan? "I don't think he exists." #'Monstrel Encounter': In this episode, Tsukune covers his last encounter with Saizo Komiya before his execution at the hands of his fellow monstrels for his insubordination. Kurumu does a Q&A with a monstrel who had heard how Saizo had failed the group, Gin does an obituary column for Saizo, and Moka and Yukari do a joint review of The Driller Killer. Yukari is grossed out by the gore and refuses to even look at the VHS cover art, while Moka is more forgiving, if only because she's seen quite a bit of carnage at Yokai Academy.